On Boxing Day we published a photo spread from the Industrial Museum’s digitised archive. Derek J Bird, of Baildon, was especially interested in two of them.

These were the one showing the number 37 trolley bus to Clayton in the city centre, and the scene outside Popplewell’s corner shop with a group of female mill workers, at least two of whom were wearing work implements, which made us wonder if they were burlers and menders.

“The young women outside G Popplewell’s tobacconist shop are cap spinners,” Mr Bird said. With a BA (hons) degree in textile science and textile technology, he should know.

“The implement attached to a cord around the waist of some of the girls is a wooden spindle stopper or ‘cap stick’, used to stop the spindle of a cap spinning frame. The latter was the most popular type of worsted spinning machine when the Bradford trade was in its heyday, particularly for medium-to-fine counts of yarn.

“One of the spinners’ tasks was repairing broken ends by making a ‘piecening’ in the yarn, referred to colloquially as ‘piecing up’. For this to be accomplished, the spindle had first to be stopped, to allow the broken end of the yarn to be found...

“The spindle stopper was a roughly dumbbell-shaped implement, concave at each end, to allow it to be held between the flange at the top of the spindle wharle and the operative’s body.

“This left both hands free, so that the yarn from the package could be held in one hand, while the fibre lap which had built up at the top front roller was removed by the other hand.”

Twisting together the two loose ends with as little overlap as possible was precision work. Experienced operatives were nimble fingered and made the work look easy. In fact, that kind of dexterity was achieved after months, perhaps years, of work.

As to the number 37 trolley bus, Mr Bird takes wing from the book Bradford Corporation Trolleybuses, compiled and written by the late J Stanley King.

Mr Bird said: “The photograph, far from being taken in the ‘1950s or early 1960s’ as stated, was definitely taken no later than 1939. The trolleybus in the picture was one of a class introduced in 1938 – this particular example entering service on September 2 of that year.

“The vehicle is resplendent in the pre-war livery of Prussian blue and ivory with black bands, lined in gold leaf, and appears brand-new.

“On the outbreak of war, headlamps were masked and white paint applied to front mudguards, to comply with ‘blackout’ regulations. Vehicles delivered or repainted from 1942 were given the later ‘South Sea blue and primrose’ livery.”